Young Goodman Brown Disguised Evil

In "Young Goodman Brown." Nathaniel Hawthorne considers the question of good and evil, suggesting that true evil is judging and condemning others for sin without looking at one's own sinfulness. He examines the idea that sin is part of being human and there is no escape from it.

In the short story “Young Goodman Brown,” the author Nathaniel Hawthorne shows the fragility of humans when it comes to their morality. Goodman Brown goes on a journey through the forest with the devil to watch the witches’ ritual and observes the evil in the Puritan society. He loses his faith as he sees the people he respects the most participating in the sinful ritual. Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes setting, and symbolism in his short story “Young Goodman Brown,” to show how a person’s perspective can change by showing the hypocritical nature of the Puritan society

At the end of the story brown can’t even come to believe that people by nature are capable of more good over evil, but because they live “fake” lives they are incapable of good. It is then he crosses the final threshold of optimist to pessimist because from this point on everyone is lying and his life becomes unbearable. He even comes to think that evil is more powerful in the mortal world. Brown becomes so gloomy and distrustful that he couldn't believe a good gesture from anyone and this affects his relationship at church and with his wife. At church he wishes ill will on the minister “When the minister spoke from the pulpit, then did Goodman Brown turn pale, dreading, lest the roof should thunder down upon the gray blasphemer and his hearers.

In “Young Goodman Brown,” there is a fight between good and evil with one main character being torn between the two sides and every other character seemingly on one side or the other through the reader’s view, although many characters do deceive Goodman Brown about whether they are good or evil. This fight between the two sides and the deception that causes confusion for Goodman Brown is the source of tension throughout the entire story. In “Young Goodman Brown,” every character’s traits and dialogue, the setting, and even colors mentioned have double meanings and are symbolic to the main binary oppositions of either good or evil.

on an "errand". Goodman Brown says to his "love and (my) Faith" that "this one

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," Hawthorne introduces Goodman Brown, who doubts himself and reiterates his false confidence to himself repeatedly. His struggle between the evil temptations, the devil, and the proper church abiding life, is a struggle he does not think he can handle. This story is about a man who challenges his faith in himself and in the community in which he resides. Goodman Brown must venture on a journey into the local forest, refuse the temptations of the devil, and return to the village before the sunrise.

“Young Goodman Brown” is full of allegorical content relating to the Puritan religion. The names of the characters in “Young Goodman Brown” are the most profound examples of allegory influenced by Puritanism. The protagonist, Goodman Brown, has a name that suggests far more than just a name. “Goodman Brown” for example, is a name that presents the character as a good moralistic man that at all costs resists temptation. Goodman Brown’s wife, Faith, has a name that assists in illustrating the downfall of Goodman Brown. After seeing Faith in the forest, Goodman Brown cries, “My Faith is gone!”(323). His wife, Faith was gone along with his spiritual faith. We first see Goodman Brown as a moral Puritan man, and after loosing his faith he becomes the opposite.

As a child in Puritan society, Goodman Brown would be given little chance to sin but would have seen those who are punished for their sins and (obviously) wondered what the attraction is that made those people sin even when being caught devastated their lives and sullied their reputations for the rest of their lives. This curiosity is what drove Goodman Brown to make a deal with Satan to guide him through the forest to where a witches’ Sabbath was being held on All Hollows Eve.

     As Goodman Brown sets off on his walk into the forest, he believes that there is more good within his community than evil, and that he himself is a good man. He

This contrast is the result of him going to look for evil and not really understanding what to expect, which can be attributed to his lack of knowledge about bad things in the world since he does not see very many bad or evil things in a Puritan society, so the evil is left up to his imagination. In his community, Goodman Brown is sheltered from evil and does not know how to resist it or fight back. Without any knowledge of what really happens in the world, Goodman Brown is forced to create his own obstacles, which backfire on him, leading to him losing trust in everyone and think that everyone is a satanist (9). Goodman Brown has a shield of innocence that keeps him ignorant from the real world and the fact that sin cannot be contained or subdued. Once Goodman Brown thinks he has found the evil, he cannot handle it.

Thus when Goodman Brown leaves his "faith", it is not a departure from virtue, but a departure from deception.  To continue the allegorical analysis, Goodman Brown represents any naturally good human being caught in puritanism's web.  His journey through the evil forest is a journey into truth - into Hawthorne's reality of evil puritanism. He discovers that all the "pious" members of the community are actually evil, which, when interpreted directly, tends to suggest the true nature of puritanism.  And when these same upstanding puritans mingle with those of  "dissolute lives" and "spotted fame(384)," Hawthorne is suggesting that Puritans are on the same level as these individuals in that there actions are no less morally repugnant.  Brown's conversation with Satan suggests that Puritans have always unconsciously committed sin in their

Surrounded by a judgmental and cruel society, all humans conform in one way or another, in hopes of avoiding the harassment that they would face otherwise. In the story of Young Goodman Brown, society reveals itself through the unexpected attendees of the satanic gathering in the woods Goodman Brown stumbles upon. Without asking his wife or deacon for more information about their presence at the gathering, Young Goodman Brown immediately assumes the worst of his loved ones. Transitioning from placing full trust in Faith and Deacon Gookin to watching them give into the powers of the devil, Goodman Brown realizes the depths of evil in the world. His human nature calls him to conform to the rest of the pessimistic society, and after his encounter, “Goodman Brown looked sternly and sadly into her [Faith] face, and passed on without a greeting” (Hawthorne

The devil help his grandfather to “lashed the Quaker woman so smartly through the streets of Salem”(Hawthorne, 2); his grandfather is not looking that holy to Goodman. Next the devil brought his father “ a pitch-pine knot, kindled at my own hearth, to set fire to an Indian village” (Hawthorne, 2); the father burn down a village with the help of the devil. In the end Goodman Brown was upset to find out what his father and grandfather did. He was upset because he thought that his family was different from the rest. He could not see his family the same after he found out.

Darkness, confusion, and terror are some words that come to mind when thinking of the setting in this writing piece. The story has a way of getting the theme across that seems very extreme, partly with its vast use of symbolism. The tale comes down to a single central theme. The story “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne shows that anyone is susceptible to a change in beliefs, and everyone's lives can be affected from the act of being caught off guard.

In “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author entertains the readers by using suspense and mystery. Hawthorne uses the devil and a witch as the main antagonists to test Young Goodman Brow’s faith, he uses symbolism to foreshadow. The author’s main goal as a puritan was to show that faith man’s most important quality, when is at risk it makes it seem as if everyone was bad, and see the rest of the world without faith.In “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author entertains the readers by using suspense and mystery. Hawthorne uses the devil and a witch as the main antagonists to test Young Goodman Brow’s faith, he uses symbolism to foreshadow. The author’s main goal as a puritan was to show that faith man’s most important quality, when is at risk it makes it seem as if everyone was bad, and see the rest of the world without faith.